Kat's Nine Lives

by Laina Villeneuve

  “What made her smile?” Wendy asked.

  “Being outside. Climbing.” She stopped when she heard Wendy’s phone chime in her pocket. When she didn’t reach for it, Kat continued, “My parents used to walk us to a park about a half-mile away. The rocks have caves and are perfect for climbing. She never stopped. I’d climb one and wait for the trains to come by. She never sat still. If my parents wouldn’t walk to the park, she’d run around the house. Literally. I’d be sitting inside reading, and she’d do laps around the house. Or she’d swing. She used to stand on that swing in the back and pump so high it looked like she’d go all the way around. She loved camping. She would have loved that backcountry cooking job you told me about. Right before the accident, we went camping at Big Sur. I remember how cold the water was, but she didn’t care. There’s a picture of her standing right in the middle of the freezing river skipping stones.”

  “She sounds like a lot of fun.”

  “She was.” Wendy’s arm tightened around Kat, and she felt contentment settle over her. Wendy made her feel like she could say anything, but what would she think if she knew what that night had done to Kat? From the bench swing, she could see Ava’s window. Remembering how adventurous she’d been, Kat had an image of her little sister crawling out her window and down off the balcony. She would not have let their parents’ bedroom stand between her and what she wanted. “I bet you would have liked her better.”

  “There you go inventing competitions that are impossible to score fairly.” Wendy’s phone chimed again, and this time she reached to pull it from her pocket. “Sorry about this. I didn’t expect to be away from the kitchen so long, so I should make sure nobody needs me.”

  Kat swung her feet down and sat up to give Wendy room to read her phone.

  “That’s weird. Erin says she’s at my restaurant. Why would she be there?”

  “Did you have plans tonight?”

  “No. We were supposed to do lunch yesterday, but it didn’t work out, but she said she was in the neighborhood.”

  “You should go.” Kat stood, self-conscious about how long she had kept Wendy.

  Wendy read the message again and looked at Kat. “I don’t have to.”

  Kat wanted to ask her to stay, but she couldn’t justify keeping Wendy from seeing Erin, not when she had introduced them. “Sounds like she wants to make up for cancelling on you yesterday. Go. Thank you so much for your help.” She bent to pick up the plates and wineglasses hoping to hide her disappointment. “I sound like a broken record saying that!”

  Wendy squeezed Kat’s shoulder and placed a light kiss on her cheek. “Thank you for telling me about Ava. I guess I’ll see you here for the rehearsal tomorrow?

  “Yes! I’m sure I’ll see you.” With difficulty, Kat turned and walked to the front door. As she climbed the steps, she raised her wrist to touch her cheek where Wendy had kissed her. It was such a simple gesture, yet it felt deeply significant.

  * * *

  Wendy started to text Erin as she walked down the drive but quickly decided it was too complicated. She hit the phone icon instead and waited to see if Erin would answer.

  “You’re alive!” Erin said. Wendy recognized the noise of Fairbanks in the background.

  “I am. I’m sorry I missed your first text.”

  “Don’t worry about it! I took a gamble hoping you’d be back.”

  “It’ll only take me about twenty minutes to make it there from Kat’s.”

  “You’re at Kat’s?”

  Wendy noted the surprise in her voice. “Kat needed some help with the chairs and tables for the wedding that’s happening at her house.”

  “What wedding?”

  “Long story.”

  “Maybe you’ll share when you get back?”

  Wendy rolled her neck feeling the pops release the pressure of the day. “Unfortunately I’ll still have some breakdown when I get back to the restaurant.”

  “Luckily, I’m not on the clock. Maybe I’ll be able to convince the management to let me stick around past closing.”

  “I suppose I could give you an exciting peek behind the curtain of catering.”

  “Ooh! I’d love to see the chef in action.”

  The timbre of her voice suggested she was interested in seeing more than Wendy in cleanup mode. The last thing Wendy expected to feel at such a tone was reluctance, yet after building sandwiches with Kat, it felt oddly like betrayal to turn around and invite Erin to see her work. “I’ll be there in about twenty,” she said, seeing no way around it.

  “I look forward to it!”

  Wendy buckled up and turned over her engine. She looked past the hedge at Kat’s house. The porch was illuminated, and she could see light from the kitchen beyond the oval glass door, but she could not see Kat. Had she expected her to be standing on the porch? Without knowing why and before she turned back to the road, she looked up. There in the smaller of the second-story windows, Wendy could see Kat standing with her arms wrapped around herself looking out at the bench swing.

  Wendy was exhausted just thinking of the chit-chat she would have to sustain with Erin. She would have jumped at the chance to extend her conversation with Kat.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kat could feel her mother thinking. Her eyes were on her phone, and she hadn’t said anything, but Kat could feel the question coming as she dried and stacked the china and crystal her father had washed for the rehearsal dinner.

  “You and Wendy talked a long time last night.”

  Kat hmmed noncommittally.

  “You’re spending a lot of time with her lately.”

  “She’s been a huge help with the wedding. Thanks for letting them have the rehearsal here.”

  “That’s your father’s doing. He was fawning over the good serving dishes I offered for the couple’s favors. It’s been so long since we’ve used them.”

  Kat turned away from her mother. Her parents had often entertained, but since Ava’s death a thick layer of dust had covered all the china and crystal. Now it shone on the counter, ready for tonight’s dinner. Through the window above the sink, she saw Wendy pull up all the way in the driveway.

  “Wendy’s here. I’m going to help her unload.” She tossed the rag on the corner, her lips tight with frustration at her mother who was still staring out at Wendy. Why couldn’t she go upstairs and hide in her room as she usually did?

  “What’s up with the Jeremy and Evan?” Wendy asked, hugging Kat hello.

  “What do you mean?”

  “They look like they’re facing off on the porch.”

  “That’s where they’re running through the ceremony.”

  “I hope they look happier when the guests are here!”

  Kat took a box from Wendy to carry to the kitchen. “Do you think I should check on them?”

  “You could offer them dueling pistols. Your dad seems like the kind of guy who would have a nice set in a velvet-lined box.”

  “You’re terrible.” Kat motioned Wendy into the kitchen in front of her and pushed the door closed with her foot. “Do you need more help?”

  “Cory is here. He’s got to earn his keep. You can go check on them.”

  “Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”

  “I’m sure your mom can help me if I figure out I’ve forgotten anything. Hi, Millie.”

  Kat’s mother grinned without showing her teeth and returned her attention to her phone. Her outfit, black cotton pants and a long-sleeved purple shirt were identical to what she’d worn the day Wendy met her.

  Wendy’s eyebrows asked what was up, and Kat shook her head. From behind her mother, she imitated shaking her, bringing a smile to Wendy’s face. Kat carried a similar smile out to the porch. “How’s everything out here?” she asked.

  “We’ll ask Kat. She’s seen a gazillion weddings,” Jeremy said. Kat could hear the challenge in his voice.

  “Ask me what?”

  “Does the couple walk in separately or together?”<
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  Kat frowned. “It depends. In the traditional wedding, the groom waits at the altar because the bride’s entrance is a big deal. Are you guys going to see each other decked out in your tuxes before you meet here?”

  “That’s the thing,” Jeremy said. “We’re both down here anyway. If we’ve already seen each other, we might as well walk in hand in hand. It’s not like either of us has someone giving us away.”

  “I pictured us walking in separately,” Evan said. His voice was tight with emotion. “I want to be able to see Jeremy’s eyes when I walk in.”

  “So I’m the groom and you’re the bride?”

  “I didn’t say that. I don’t need to walk down the aisle through our guests.”

  Jeremy smirked at Evan. “Are you sure?”

  “We walk in from either side and then walk out together.” Evan pointed down the sidewalk that separated the chairs.

  “And then where do we go? Out to the street? Grab a bottle of champagne from the car? We should both walk in from the side of the porch with the aviary and then we walk out right here toward the swing. People come shake our hands and go down the drive to the party.”

  “That would work,” Kat said.

  “That doesn’t feel momentous enough. We’ll be married, and we just step off to the side?”

  Jeremy tossed up his arms. “I thought you didn’t want to come in from the street!”

  “I need to see it! I need to see what it’s going to look like. Kat, can you help us?”

  “Sure.”

  Evan settled himself in one of the seats. He waved at them to proceed. Reverend Munson stepped forward, regal in her stature. Wearing a cream-colored blazer that resembled the robes she wore on Sundays, she brought the formality of the church with her. She removed her reading glasses from their perch on her curled silver hair, settled them on her thin nose, glanced above the rim and smiled kindly. “Ready?” Regardless of the space, her reedy voice was always set high to project far.

  Jeremy nodded.

  The priest said, “I’ll pronounce you husbands, invite you to kiss, and then your music will start, and you’ll proceed out. I’ll follow.”

  “Okay,” Kat said, reaching for Jeremy’s hands. She was worried her smile looked more like a grimace.

  “No! I can’t watch! You can’t practice with Jeremy. Is Wendy here? Could she stand in, too? Then we can both see.”

  With relief, Kat poked her head in the door. “Wendy! Can you help us out for a minute?”

  Drying her hands, Wendy strode through the house. She looked comfortable, even after spending time alone with her mother. Kat was impressed with her composure. At the door, Kat explained the conundrum.

  “Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it,” Wendy said.

  Her response did not surprise Kat, and she squeezed Wendy’s arm in appreciation. She hadn’t expected her muscle to feel so firm, and she lifted her eyebrows in surprise.

  “What?” Wendy looked at Kat’s hand. She snatched it away.

  “Nothing. Just…who knew chefs were so buff?”

  Wendy flexed her arm, making Kat laugh. Kat hollered out the front door. “Which do you want to see first, walking in together, or walking in separately?”

  “Together first!” Evan called.

  “Okay! Watch for us.” She pointed Wendy through the house. “We’ll use the back door and walk around.”

  “Everything okay?” Millie asked as they passed through the kitchen.

  “They’re working out their jitters by stressing on the small details,” Kat explained.

  “Stressing on small details is your specialty,” her mother said drolly.

  “Ignore her, please,” Kat said as they walked out the back porch.

  “I think she’s fun.”

  “Please tell me she wasn’t talking to you in there or asking all sorts of embarrassing things.”

  “Nothing embarrassing. Course I’m pretty hard to embarrass.”

  “Oh no. What did she ask you?”

  “When I knew I was a dyke.”

  “She did not!”

  “No. She asked when I knew I liked girls.”

  “I’m so sorry!”

  “Why? She initiated a conversation. She’s nice.”

  “And slightly inappropriate.”

  “Why? It was just getting interesting! We were just getting into why most open relationships don’t work out.”

  “Thank goodness I came in when I did.” Kat tugged Wendy down the driveway toward the porch. She did not need her mother opening up the topic of open marriages with Wendy. When she had talked to her mother about Jack and Ember, Kat heard more than she’d ever wanted about how she was carrying on a tradition established by her grandparents. She had yet to recover fully from the details of her paternal grandparents’ participation in Dr. Kinsey’s studies.

  “But now I’m curious!”

  “I can tell you from experience that curiosity nearly killed this Kat, so count yourself saved.” They walked up the stairs unceremoniously, though still holding hands, and turned to Jeremy and Evan.

  “What in the devil are you two running from? Could you at least pretend that you’re about to be married?” Evan said.

  “We’re doing you a favor, remember? Quit complaining!” Kat tossed back. She glanced at Wendy and had trouble reading her expression.

  Wendy leaned over and whispered, “I’m cooking all evening here. If your mother’s still in the kitchen, I’m going to find out.”

  Kat smacked her shoulder. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Wouldn’t I?”

  “Blah blah blah blah. You’re married forever and ever. Kiss and walk down the sidewalk,” Jeremy said.

  Kat saw the surprise she felt mirrored in Wendy’s expression. They stood staring at each other, paralyzed. For Kat, Miranda’s request for a kiss burned in her mind. What kept Wendy looking so serious?

  “Don’t listen to him,” Evan said. “All we need to see is you exiting down the sidewalk and coming around the driveway.”

  Evan smacked Jeremy and leaned over to whisper something in his ear, and Kat blushed remembering how she had not corrected his assumption the last time they had spoken. He would be thinking that Kat was uncomfortable with all of this, and she was, but not for the reason he thought.

  Wendy gently squeezed Kat’s hands. “Come on.”

  With more reverence, they took the three steps and walked hand in hand down the sidewalk. Once they passed the seats on the grass and the hedge at the edge of the property, Kat said, “I’m sorry I froze.” She led Wendy out through the small gate and back around to the driveway.

  “What?” Wendy said. Kat could tell she was pretending she hadn’t noticed.

  “On the porch just now. When Jeremy said to kiss. It’s…”

  “It’s okay.”

  “No. I don’t want you to think I’m uncomfortable. I’m not. Two girls…you know…together? It doesn’t make me uncomfortable.” She bit her lip and started walking back up the drive to where they had sat swinging together only a few days before. The evening breeze lifted the leaves on the hedge behind the swing and sent a shiver up her spine. She remembered the warmth of Wendy’s body when she had leaned against her. She hadn’t been tempted to kiss her that night. Why would she be thinking about it now? Her gaze drifted down to Wendy’s lips. How had she never noticed how invitingly full they were?

  “It’s not like I’ve never kissed a girl before,” Kat said.

  “I know.”

  “You do?”

  “Erin told me.”

  “How would Erin…?” The words slipped out of her mouth before Kat remembered the drunken kiss she’d fumbled with Erin.

  Wendy looked understandably confused.

  “Yoo hoo! Ladies! Is someone going to the other side, so we can see what that looks like?” Evan yodeled.

  * * *

  Wendy couldn’t tell if Kat was upset to learn that Erin had told her about their kiss. But if she was embarrassed
about it, why did she get the feeling Kat was staring at her mouth? Evan’s voice startled her into action. “I’ll go around.”

  “Let me,” Kat said, staying her with a brief touch to the shoulder. She was touching her more, Wendy noticed. Probably just in the straight girl your-sexuality-doesn’t-intimidate-me sort of way, but still, Wendy felt her blood surge.

  Wendy watched Kat walk across the porch thinking that her day could not get any weirder. Kat kept walking until she was standing by the large aviary under the balcony steps. She turned around and looked at Wendy with a new intensity.

  “You can’t stand there staring at each other. Remember it’s supposed to be a surprise when we see each other. Go further back!” Evan said.

  Wendy complied, walking along a brick path along the other side of the house. She stopped when directed.

  “Okay. Now you can both walk toward the porch.”

  On the other side of the house, Kat was walking parallel to her. Imagining Kat’s progress pulled her emotions like strings of a balloon bouquet. The joy she felt when Kat’s ID lit up her phone a bright yellow balloon bobbing brightly. A green balloon the envy she had once felt for her growing up in this house. Blue, the memories of her sister Kat had shared. Red, how much she cared for her.

  Wendy reached the porch, and the sight of Kat took her breath away. It wasn’t what she wore. The old jeans and loose tee were more suited to doing chores than standing in for a groom, but even across the length of the house, she felt as if Kat was pulling her like iron to a magnet.

  She cared for her.

  When had that happened?

  With only the sound of the parakeets chirping, she climbed the steps watching as Kat did the same. Kat’s tentative smile made her look like a nervous bride. Had she been nervous when she walked down the aisle eighteen years ago? No doubt she was a lovely bride. She smiled herself, wondering whether her dress had been fancy or simple. Had she worn her hair up? What was she doing picturing Kat as a bride?

  They stopped in the center of the porch and took each other’s hands as the minister stepped forward. Kat’s loose top brought out the green in her eyes, and Wendy did not want to look away. Physically and emotionally, Wendy had never been in this position before. Her heart began to race as if she was about to recite vows. Before she could explore what that meant, Jeremy and Evan were with them on the porch.